Who is Kara Young’s partner? All about playwright Biko Eisen-Martin

Biko Eisen-Martin’s partner, Kara Young, made history at the 2025 Tony Awards.

The actress won the “Best Featured Actress in a Play” award at the 78th ceremony for her performance in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Purpose. It was Young’s consecutive win in the same category after she received a Tony Award last year for Purlie Victorious. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kara is the first-ever Black performer to have two successive Tony wins in two years.

After accepting the trophy at the 78th edition, the actress said (via THR),

“In this world that [is] so divided, theater is … a safe, a sacred space that we have to honor and cherish and it makes us united.”

As mentioned, Kara is in a relationship with a fellow theater performer, Biko Eisen-Martin. According to The New York Times, the pair resides in a two-bedroom apartment in NYC’s Harlem, the neighborhood where Young grew up. Per his IMDb bio, Biko Eisen-Martin is a San Francisco native and was raised by a single mother, Arlene Eisen. She seemingly inspired him to take up art and activism.

Biko is an alumnus of Brown University, from where he received a BA in Africana Studies and a master's degree in Teaching. According to IMDb, when Eisen-Martin was young, he performed poetry nationally with Youth Speaks. He also delivered poetry at the Youth Against War conference in Bosnia. Later, Biko became a history teacher at Berkeley High before pursuing an MFA.

Per IMDb, he obtained a Master of Fine Arts at the National Theatre Conservatory and began his career as an actor and playwright. Besides his theater work, Biko Eisen-Martin also appeared in TV and movie productions like Dietland, Blue Bloods, East New York, and Uppercut. The Golden City native also has an older brother, Tongo, who is a poet and activist.

Tongo Eisen-Martin served as San Francisco’s Poet Laureate before being succeeded by Genny Lim in September of last year. She is the ninth person to hold the position and the first-ever Chinese American appointee.

Biko Eisen-Martin worked with his Tony-winning partner Kara Young in a 2024 off-Broadway play

Last year, Table 17 by Douglas Lyons had its world premiere, with Zhailon Levingston serving as the director. The off-Broadway production starred the couple, Biko Eisen-Martin and Kara Young, as ex-lovers, with Michael Rishawn supporting their performances in multiple roles. Responding to a question on working with her boyfriend, the Tony Award winner spoke in an interview with Kathy Henderson (for Broadway.com),

“We’ve been together for some time, but we’re not the kind of couple that advertises our love. We’re not posting pictures of ourselves on Instagram or anything of that nature.”

She added,

“I was asked to do a reading of Table 17, and then our director asked Biko to do the reading, and when we did it together, it was magic. It was a total accident, but an absolute blast, and a beautiful challenge of building that world and doing justice to the script.”

The pair received praise, with veteran theater and TV/movie actor Patrick Page also commenting on their performance. The Hollywood and Broadway star who voiced Magic Mirror in Snow White (2025) shared a picture of the couple in an Instagram post. Page hailed the trio, including Michael Rishawn,

“Kara Young and Biko Eisen-Martin are hilarious, sexy, and moving in “Table 17” at MCC, and Michael Rishawn is a protean marvel to complete the cast.”

He added,

Trending

“It’s refreshing to have a theatre rom-com with people you really care about, and Kara Young is a comedic genius in addition to being a great actress. Biko is a perfect match for her and their chemistry is off the charts. Pure joy!”

Besides his acting performances, Biko Eisen-Martin also received critical acclaim as a playwright for Pac & Biggie Are Dead and 3rd and Palou. He also served as the director of the latter, which was based on San Francisco’s Hunters Point social uprising in ‘66.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback